@lemish34 said:
"What a beautiful set!
I wonder how easily & cheaply this could be BrickLinked?…."

The windows and doors are going to be hard to find and/or expensive.

Great Windmill!

@Zordboy said:
" @lemish34 said:
"What a beautiful set!
I wonder how easily & cheaply this could be BrickLinked?…."

The windows and doors are going to be hard to find and/or expensive. "

Not to mention the printed grille-and-headlights piece. And, of course, the miniquin torsos and legs might be worth a bit, too.

@JGW3000 said:"It's a little disturbing that the minifig is surgically attached to the wheelbarrow, but without hands or arms, perhaps it's the best option."

They also had to bisect themselves to sit down.

This must be one of the larger sets of that time, it has some nice builds.

I have this gem :-) but the US version

Since there's no way in, I'm guessing that vehicle is autonomous. They've been trying to make those a reality for 50 years.

Simple but effective

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Zordboy said:
" @lemish34 said:
"What a beautiful set!
I wonder how easily & cheaply this could be BrickLinked?…."

The windows and doors are going to be hard to find and/or expensive. "

Not to mention the printed grille-and-headlights piece. And, of course, the miniquin torsos and legs might be worth a bit, too.

@JGW3000 said:"It's a little disturbing that the minifig is surgically attached to the wheelbarrow, but without hands or arms, perhaps it's the best option."

They also had to bisect themselves to sit down."

Baseplate is unique for this set
Finding 5 Windows 1 x 1 x 2 in white also a small pain
All other parts should be pretty common

Cool set!

I still have plenty of those windows and doors......but all in red, not a single one in another color. And most didn't quite keep their original shape....

@TheOtherMike said:
"
@JGW3000 said:"It's a little disturbing that the minifig is surgically attached to the wheelbarrow, but without hands or arms, perhaps it's the best option."

They also had to bisect themselves to sit down."

What a horrifying existence. They’d scream but, well…

@Worrissey said:
"*Thomas and friends opening theme plays*
"

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that!

Now all it needs is a Don Quixote minifigure...

@SDlgo9 said:
"Now all it needs is a Don Quixote minifigure..."

Sancho?

@SDlgo9 said:
"Now all it needs is a Don Quixote minifigure..."

43008 has an orange, round-headed minifigure you could feasibly use as a stand-in for a windmill-hating Don.

@watcher21 said:
"Baseplate is unique for this set
Finding 5 Windows 1 x 1 x 2 in white also a small pain
All other parts should be pretty common"

The baseplate is a unique print, but the print (white tops of some of the studs) would be completely covered up when the set is built. Still, the unprinted baseplate (16x24 with rounded corners) was only used in two other sets, and one of them was Minitalia, so it's still quite rare.

@StyleCounselor said:
"Back when the peasants were not just forced to work the fields, but their very bodies were fashioned into equipment. "

Swords into plowshares, and peasants into wheelbarrows?

I got the US version of this set (550 I think) new as a kid, and a year or two ago I rebuilt it for the first time in about 45 years. It quickly got disassembled when I was a kid because it wasn’t scaled for the minifigures that would come out soon after - but looking at my rebuilt model now, it’s a beautiful little set - the windmill is a work of art IMHO.

The windmill sits on a turntable so is can rotate like the Dutch windmills to face the wind. I like the detail of the small windows with shutters. Even though not allowed now, I don't think this was the only time fence posts were to create vertical panels using plates.

A windmill, a house, a small lorry, and two amputee proto-minifigs.
For a total of 215 pieces.

Today, the wings of a windmill alone would be more pieces.
Alas, simpler times.

Charming set.

@ambr said:
"The windmill sits on a turntable so is can rotate like the Dutch windmills to face the wind. I like the detail of the small windows with shutters. Even though not allowed now, I don't think this was the only time fence posts were to create vertical panels using plates."

You mean the insertion of studs into the diamond lattice on the fences? As far as I’m aware, that’s never has never been declared an illegal technique, but that doesn’t mean any set designers still consider it a desirable one.

@PurpleDave said:
" @ambr said:
"The windmill sits on a turntable so is can rotate like the Dutch windmills to face the wind. I like the detail of the small windows with shutters. Even though not allowed now, I don't think this was the only time fence posts were to create vertical panels using plates."

You mean the insertion of studs into the diamond lattice on the fences? As far as I’m aware, that’s never has never been declared an illegal technique, but that doesn’t mean any set designers still consider it a desirable one."

I don't see how or why it would be illegal, since it doesn't stress any of the pieces and they're firmly in system. I like to use that technique with coloured trans 1x1-pieces in order to make stained-glass windows, for instance.

@Crux said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @ambr said:
"The windmill sits on a turntable so is can rotate like the Dutch windmills to face the wind. I like the detail of the small windows with shutters. Even though not allowed now, I don't think this was the only time fence posts were to create vertical panels using plates."

You mean the insertion of studs into the diamond lattice on the fences? As far as I’m aware, that’s never has never been declared an illegal technique, but that doesn’t mean any set designers still consider it a desirable one."

I don't see how or why it would be illegal, since it doesn't stress any of the pieces and they're firmly in system. I like to use that technique with coloured trans 1x1-pieces in order to make stained-glass windows, for instance."

Offhand I can think of three categories of connections that would be ruled “illegal techniques”. The one that started it all is connections that stress the element (if it causes the piece to be permanently deformed, it’s illegal). If it stresses the construction (parts mounted to half-pins inserted into Technic bricks stick up above the top of the brick, so nothing can be attached that rests on both elements), that’s another one. And the third is less common and somewhat confusing, but the assembly can’t be incredibly difficult for kids to disassemble. One example of this last one is inserting studs into Technic pin holes. A 1x1 was deemed legal when this classification first came to light (not sure about now), but anything larger was off-limits because long plates would be prone to breaking, or simply prove too hard for young fingers to pry loose. The stud-in-lattice doesn’t appear to cause undue stress to the elements, or the assembly, but disassembly could be seen as a challenge. It definitely was used several times (there’s even a 1x16 lattice with no other connection points), but it may well have been banned in more recent years.

@AustinPowers said:
"A windmill, a house, a small lorry, and two amputee proto-minifigs.
For a total of 215 pieces.

Today, the wings of a windmill alone would be more pieces.
Alas, simpler times.

Charming set. "

7189 used one piece for each wing, compared to the three each here. And if the blades on the helicopter in 70813 are repurposed windmill wings (which is the obvious interpretation), that's still only three pieces each.